


Echo

by Bluethenstaub



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, aka Kree are weird when it comes to finding the soulmates, aka Ravagers are no good parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 21:32:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluethenstaub/pseuds/Bluethenstaub
Summary: A Soulmate AU where the scars and injuries of your soulmate appear on your own body, distinguishable by how they are discolored.And Ronan is not pleased how often he finds marks on his body.





	Echo

The first time Ronan saw it was a day after he had been sparring with Ardal.

He was certain that Ardal had landed some hits on him, Ronan would likely have a bad bruise on his left side for the rest of the week, but he was rather sure that he hadn't been hit somewhere near the face. Such a punch was against the rules of a sparring match between Accusers. Neither would dare to break the rules.

Even so, Ronan had received a black eye.

If Ardal would have hit him in the face the bruise would have turned out to be a dark shade of purple. But no, this one was deep red. Upon further inspection he was sure of it, this fight mark was not spawned from his own failure.

It had to be his soulmate’s.

Ronan didn't know how to feel about this. On one hand he was happy and proud, but on the other hand he felt rather anxious. Finally, like the other Kree his age, he had a soulmate.

It was custom for the Kree to injure themselves at a certain age with nonpermanent symbols to show their soulmate their existence and their family name. If the soulmate was already born they would respond accordingly.

Ronan's big day had come and gone. He never received a response. His soulmate never showed any sign of existence, at least none that Ronan had recognized.

He leaned closer to the mirror. Carefully, he brushed over the mark with his fingers. He wondered who that person was. What kind of Kree would get into a fight and get a black eye?

It couldn't be a warrior. There was no war currently going on and the rules forbid them to injure each other's heads during training. He also guessed that it was not a member of the priest caste. They were the only Kree who strictly swore off violence, even as children.

His soulmate was probably someone of the outer rims of Hala, maybe even from one of the colonies. Ronan had heard that these people often got into fights with each other. So, maybe this was the kid's first fight. Ronan was sure, this unknown person was going to learn quickly enough. After all, they were Ronan's soulmate. When the time came, his unknown soulmate would surely prove to be worthy of the Supreme Accuser.

 

* * *

 

Peter sat on his bed and cried.

Today he had lost another fight against Tom, Michael, and Roger.

Since he had started to go to school last year, they had decided to make Peter's life hell. Tom, the biggest and dumbest of the three, had decided one day that he couldn't stand Peter. Peter had never done anything, he was just trying to live his life with his mom and his family!

It hadn't started that way, they “only" called him names. But when they started to call his mom slurs and curse words because she had had a child without being married, he had seen red. Of course, he had lost the fight, but he was proud to say that Michael got a bloody nose because of him! This thought made it worth the black eye.

He was actually pretty proud of it. It even made up to the fact that he had been suspended. The worst thing about it all was his mom's disappointment, but that passed quickly.

No. He was wrong. The worst thing was that the bullying got worse from that day on. Tom and his friends held a grudge.

At the end of the day, his body was more bruised than ever. He couldn't hide the bruises from his mom, after all, he was only 7 years old. But Peter was used to marks on his body. He didn't know who his soulmate was, but their life couldn't be much better than Peter's.

As long as he could remember he always had some blue soulmarks all over his body. Except for his head. Somehow it was never the head.

Peter hoped his soulmate was a cool alien who could kick the butts of Peter’s bullies. He knew aliens existed, his mom always told him beautiful space stories. And she always told him that his dad was from the stars. That could only mean that he was an alien, right? Either that or an astronaut. Or David Bowie, after all, he was an alien; David was just a codename and his real name was Ziggy Stardust.

Peter also had a code name, Star-Lord. He thought it was funny that his codename contained the word “star" while Bowie’s real name contained it. That could be no coincidence!

If his soulmate really was an alien, they probably knew how to beat up the bad guys. And they were probably really disappointed that Peter always got beaten up.

He rubbed over his eyes. He had to stop crying!

The other kids at school never cried, he thought. Especially not because of some stupid bruises that would fade. He was probably the only boy in his entire class who still cried all the time. Peter didn't count the girls because it was common knowledge that girls always cried.

He also didn't want his mom to see that he had cried again when she came home from work, so he quietly left his room and went into the bathroom to wash his face. His mom had already enough worries after the doctor had told her recently that she was really sick; he didn't want to cause her ever more stress.

He had even stopped complaining about having to do his homework! He was the best son an ill mom could ask for!

 

* * *

 

Ronan had found new marks. Again. How was it possible for so many bruises and scratches to fit on one body?

His soulmate was no Kree. A Kree would never allow himself to be as abused as his soulmate. His people were way too sturdy.

After likely having a sudden change of environment a bit over a year ago, everything went south.

The new marks consisted of many small cuts on his fingers. Did his soulmate try to make a living in a kitchen? Who the hell was this guy? It had been three years now since Ronan had first discovered the existence of his soulmate, but he had no idea what kind of person they were.

He was sure of one thing: his soulmate was not a woman. No woman, adult or child, would ever behave in a way to be beaten up as often as his soulmate.

Ronan had a plan, even it went against the Kree law. He would mark his body again to find his soulmate. He couldn't bear the thought of the person closest to his soul suffering for any longer. He had already suffered long enough.

He would bring him to Hala to live with him in a safe environment, by any means. And, if he really was a child as Ronan suspected he was, he would find a way to raise him.

 

* * *

 

_I'm Ronan of Hala._

Aboard the _Eclector_ , it had taken Peter a while to decipher the words; they were written in a language he couldn't understand. Peter was lucky that Yondu already trusted him enough to let him play with these strange screens that looked like the consoles in sciences fiction movies, but 100% cooler. And 100% more confusing since they were transparent.

The amount of information reminded him of the big library that his mom had taken him to once, not just the little one at school. That was before she had gotten sick.

 After he searched around for awhile, he found out that the letters were of the Kree language. It looked somewhat like ancient cuneiform. His mom had taught him about all kind of stuff, even early human history.

His soulmate was a Kree!

Wow! He had never met a Kree in person, but he had seen one or two when he was out with Yondu on a mission. They were big, they were blue, and looked really impressive. And, most importantly, Yondu refused to do business with them.

Peter didn't know why. Maybe it was because they would kill Yondu if he cheated them. But on the other hand, many aliens looked like they would kill Yondu if he cheated, so there had to be another reason.

It took Peter quite some time to prepare himself mentally for contacting Ronan. Even he was kind of reckless and provoked the Ravagers more often than not, most of the time with the result of them beating him, it was different to do something where he hurt his own skin.

He knew exactly how much it was going to hurt, but he didn't know how deep he had to cut. Would it suffice to scratch on the surface? He had to try. If he wouldn't get an answer after 6 hours, he told himself, he had to go deeper.

 _I'm Peter of Terra_ , he answered while trying his best to write in Xandarian as Yondu had taught him since no one out here knew the Terran alphabet.

He didn't get an answer, so he had to try again. And again. And again.

After the fourth try, he finally got an answer written in Xandarian.

_Where are you?_

Good. If Ronan knew how to write in Xandarian they would have no problem communicating. Even so, it hurt like hell and Peter tried his hardest not to cry.

_Eclector with Ravagers_

After a minute, more writing bloomed on his arm.

_Tell me the next time you're going on a planet; I’m going to get you, if you want._

Peter wanted.

He wanted to leave the Ravagers so badly, even if he could never go back to Earth. Peter want to tell Ronan this, but he couldn't. Not right now. Now, he had to wipe off his tears and wait until Yondu told him when they would next visit a planet.

 

* * *

 

Peter. His name was Peter and he was from Terra. Or was Peter a women's name? He would find out soon enough.

As far as Ronan knew, Terrans hadn't invented extraterrestrial travel yet, not to speak of interstellar travel. So why was his Terran in space and, more importantly, why was he with the Ravagers? As far as Ronan knew they didn't deal with children.

But the answer would have to wait. He didn't want Peter to be more hurt than he had to be and messages would hurt him. They could talk later.

Ronan made preparations for Peter to move to his house. There was no way Peter was going to stay with the Ravagers. He didn't know what kind of rooms Terrans preferred, they were so primitive that there was almost no information on them to be found. Too, information he could find was so old that it was surely outdated. So, a room for Kree needs would have to suffice.

Since Ronan had no idea how old or tall Peter was, he refrained from buying him clothes. This could wait until later.

What was more important was that Ronan prepared a fast ship so he could go and meet Peter as soon as possible.

Two weeks later Ronan got the crucial message.

_Senslo Spaceport 2 or 3 days_

Ronan left the planet almost immediately.

 

* * *

 

Yondu had laughed at Peter for taking all of his Terran stuff with him, then smacked him on the back of the head.

“There ain't no need to be so protective of your stuff, boy. No one wants this shit anyway.”

“You want my troll. And you always say we got a code. Steal from everybody,” Peter mumbled and rubbed the back of his head.

He really could use a haircut. His hair was almost as long as his uncle's girlfriend's when he had last seen her. But he didn't trust any of the Ravagers enough. They would probably cut off one of his ears and eat it. He didn’t want to look as ugly and scarred as they did!

“But not from each other! We ain't doing that.”

“You totally would.”

“Shut it, kid.”

“Shut it yourself.” This earned him another slap on the head.

“Do you know what ya have to do?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Yeees. Steal from everybody while you do the fun stuff, like selling some weird artifact you've 'found' in someone else's vault.”

Yondu grunted proudly. “And then?”

He rolled his eyes again. They had talked about this 100 times, pretty much every time Peter went out on a mission with Yondu, in fact.

“If I find something special while pickpocketing or if I suddenly have a bunch of units I go back to your ship, leave it there and go back on the hunt.”

Or, he would go straight to Ronan. The Kree had left Peter a message last night, now hidden under Peter's oversized Ravager jacket. It was a mystery to him how people weren't able to connect him with the Ravagers when he basically looked like a smaller version of them!

“Good boy. Now run. And don't get eaten!”

This time Peter actually listened to Yondu, for once. He ran away from Yondu’s ship until he had no more breath. Now, he just had to find the market Ronan had spoken off.

 

* * *

 

The market was packed. Ronan really hoped Peter would be able to find him among all these people.

He wasn't wearing his armor today; there was no reason to. He was here in private. If he wore the armor, people would notice him, and people noticing him was the last thing he wanted today. Only Peter had to notice him, everyone else didn't matter.

His eyes wandered over the crowd. He could see no one who resembled a Ravager. As far as Ronan knew they all wore some kind of different colored leather rags, but he could see nothing. He could spot no one wearing exclusively leather. He continued searching when a small child tugged on his shirt.

“Go away, street rat,” he said without looking down. “I have neither money nor food for you.” He had to find Peter.

“You're a Kree, sir, ain't it?”

“Yes.”

“Is your name Ronan, by any chance?”

He looked down and looked into the bright green eyes of someone with too much hair on their head. “And if it was?”

“Then I'd tell you that I'm Peter and ready to go.”

Ronan stared at the child and frowned. This tiny and fragile being was his soulmate? He couldn't believe it.

“Prove it, child.”

Peter lifted the sleeve of his jacket and showed Ronan his bare arm. One could see clearly the blue words he had written to tell Peter where to meet him.

He nodded. “Do you have your stuff?”

“All in my backpack.”

“Good. Now come on. It's not far, but I'd prefer the other Ravagers not to see us together,” he stated as he started to walk slowly back to his ship. For every step he made Peter had to make two.

“No others. It's just me and Yondu out here.”

“It's 'Yondu and me', ” he corrected him. “Yondu Udonta?”

“Do you know him?”

Ronan growled softly. “Yondu Udonta has a reputation all throughout the galaxy.”

“But he doesn't do business with Kree.”

“We Kree have no mercy with thieves like him.”

“... And with thieves like me? What will happen to me?” the child asked carefully.

“You're going to tell me your story on my ship, then we'll decide.”

“Okay…”

“...” Ronan couldn't help himself but feel sorry for the small child. To reassure him he put a hand on his back. “Everything will work out fine, Peter. I promise.”

The child only nodded and said nothing.

 

* * *

 

The ship looked very different from the _Eclector_ and the M-Ships. While the _Eclector_ reminded Peter of a science fiction blaster he had seen on TV, the M-Ships bore resemblance to birds, ready to attack their prey.

Ronan's ship reminded him more of a hybrid of a dolphin and a frog and it was pitch black. The blackness was not only on the outside, but it continued on the inside. Everything but the active screens was black.

“You've used up all your colors on your skin, haven't you?”

“... What?” Ronan looked down at Peter in confusion.

“Everything's black here,” he answered. “Your ship from the outside, your ship from the inside, your clothes.”

“The most common stones on Hala are black. The same goes for our most common metals and the fibers of the plants we use to make our clothing.”

“So I'm going to be like the most noticeable person on the whole planet? I’m the peacock among your chickens?”

Ronan smiles softly, even though he didn't know what peacocks or chickens were.

“Probably. But I'm not sure if that's because of your clothes, your look, or your big mouth. Your clothes can change, but the other two…”

“I'm still growing, you giant smurf! In the last year I grew like 2 inches!” Peter remarked. “And I admit, I need to change the way I look. I look like a girl…”

“Oh, you're not? And here I was, thinking that you were a sweet little Terran princess.”

Peter stared at him with big eyes. “You really think that?”

“No.”

“Oh. Good. I'm not a princess. I'm a booooy! But not just any boy! I'm Star-Lord.”

“Star-Lord? What's that? Some kind of Terran cookie you named yourself after?”

“No, actually my mom-" Peter grew quiet. He didn't want to talk about his mom, not with Ronan and not with anyone else. At least not now. “Doesn't matter,” he mumbled.

“Sit down, boy. And tell me how you, the Terran Star-Lord ended up with the Ravagers.”

Peter gulped. Everything came always back to his mom. He climbed onto the chair and started to tell Ronan his story.

**Author's Note:**

> And they lived happily ever after.


End file.
